Effects of database choice on international accounting research

Data availability is one of the traditional obstacles confronting researchers carrying out international empirical studies in accounting. In recent years several databases have claimed to offer comprehensive coverage of accounting and financial data of firms worldwide. We analyse whether the choice of database has an effect on the results of empirical studies. We find that the results of a simple empirical adaptation of the Ohlson (1995 ) model for fourteen member states of the European Union change significantly depending on the database chosen (Datastream, Global Vantage, Company Analysis, Worldscope, Thomson Financial, Financials and BvD Osiris). These differences are mainly attributable to differences in the samples across databases. When we match observations across all databases the differences persist but are much less pronounced. Our main conclusion is that database choice matters, as it leads to different results when the same research design is used.     

Accounting quality in railway companies during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: the case of Spanish NORTE and MZA

Prior literature studying railway accounting during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries defends the thesis of lack of reliability of accounting figures. This prior research, which mainly studies the cases of the United Kingdom and the United States, offers mixed views on the causes, or simply accepts this thesis without providing conclusive evidence, as is the case of historical research in Spain. We provide novel evidence on the quality of railway accounting and contribute to this prior debate by (1) analysing the accounting for two material accruals: depreciation and prior period adjustments; (2) studying the persistence of earnings and its components, and (3) analysing how accrual accounting affects persistence. These analyses are conducted for the period 1856–1939 for the two major Spanish railway companies (MZA and NORTE). The reported evidence suggests that earnings are highly persistent. However, we show that there are significant differences across firms and that these differences are particularly obvious when analysing the adjustments for prior period earnings. Overall, our evidence does not support the thesis that accounting was underdeveloped, but rather, that managerial accounting choices lowered accounting quality.     

A comparison of Norwegian and United States accounting students' learning style preferences

Individual differences among humans are apparent in many environments and situations. Educators should be concerned about whether such differences are systematic to such an extent that they significantly affect the effectiveness of various pedagogical methods and training approaches. This paper investigates one type of individual difference-learning style-which may vary across cultures and which may be relevant for both accounting education and audit practice. Learning style is defined as an individual orientation to learning, utilizing four basic modes of learning to various degrees.

Learning style measures were obtained from Norwegian and United States accounting students with varying experience levels. The learning styles for the US students were compared to data obtained in prior research and were found to be generally consistent with these studies. The Norwegian sample was compared to both the current United States results and prior research and was found to be significantly different from the US learning style preferences. Implications of these differences for both education and practice are explored.     

资产公允价值的信息含量及其计量——来自香港金融类上市公司的经验数据

2006年我国颁布的新会计准则广泛引入了公允价值的概念。本文以香港金融类上市公司为样本，主要研究香港公允价值的实施是否增强了会计数据的解释能力。实证结果表明，无论是按公允价值计量的金融资产期末价值还是公允价值变动产生的朱实现收益，都对公司价格和市场收益率产生了显著的增量解释能力。实证结果同时显示，投资者对公允价值计量部分资产的关注程度也要普遍高于非公允价值计量的资产。研究结果能有效消除准则制定者的顾虑，推动公允价值更为广泛的运用。     

Inferring the default rate in a population by comparing two incomplete default databases

It is often the case in default modeling that the need arises to calibrate a model to some prior probability of default. In many situations, a researcher may not know the true prior default rate for the population because the data set at hand is itself incomplete, either with respect to default identification (hidden defaults) or default under reporting. In situations where a researcher has access to two incomplete default data sets, for example in the case of two banks that have merged, it is possible to infer the number of “missing” defaults, which we demonstrate in this short note. We discuss an approach to estimating this quantity and show an example in which we infer the number of missing defaults in the combined legacy databases of the former Moody’s Risk Management Services and the former KMV Corporation. While calibration is one application of this approach, the method is a general one that can be applied in other settings as well.     

公司上市决策与成长性资金需求

公司上市是公司成长阶段最重要的战略决策之一。理论研究表明为公司成长性募集资金是公司上市决策的主要动因。本文对创业板首批上市的宝德股份成长性进行考察,结果表明虽然宝德股份满足创业板对拟上市公司成长性指标的要求,但宝德股份上市之后无论是经营业绩还是股票市场都没有表现出高成长性,由此可见宝德股份很可能并不是为了满足成长性资金需求而选择上市。本文结果表明虽然监管机构试图使股票市场为高成长性公司提供资金促进公司高速成长,然而,股票市场财富效应等原因可能比公司成长性需求更能影响公司的上市决策。     

Investigating international differences in financial reporting: Data problems and some proposed solutions

This paper is designed to assist researchers in international accounting by analysing a number of problems which they might meet. In particular, we focus on problems related to selecting the sample, specifying the variables, using databases and hand-collecting data. We provide examples of the problems from prior literature and, on some topics, by supplying original data. We suggest solutions to the problems discussed in the paper.     

The combined effects of user schemas and degree of cognitive fit on data retrieval performance

Given the massive and accelerating amount of data modern organizations are collecting, it is imperative that employees possess the skills to navigate various data structures and develop sound data manipulation and retrieval strategies. This research investigates whether and how user schemas and the degree of cognitive fit combine to affect data retrieval task performance. We measured two types of user schemas associated with debit-credit-accounting (DCA) and resource-event-agent (REA) accounting systems. All participants completed tasks that were either facilitated by DCA or REA. Degree of cognitive fit was manipulated as high (when the task was facilitated by the system) or low (when the task was not facilitated by the system). Results show that the positive association between users' schemas and data retrieval performance is enhanced when the degree of cognitive fit is high, but is attenuated when the degree of cognitive fit is low. The findings that participants with equivalent amounts of training on the accounting models had varying schema strengths for those models provide prima facie evidence that one should not assume schemas' existence based on experience. Of particular importance is the finding that cognitive fit is even more important than schemas, as this provides guidance for companies interested in facilitating data retrieval to focus their decision support efforts first on providing interfaces that match the tasks to be performed and second on training their decision makers to develop schemas consistent with the interfaces. While the combination of strong user schemas and high cognitive fit will yield the best results, if a company must choose due to limited resources, the provision of high cognitive fit with the interface-task match is more important than developing strong user schemas.     

The Impact of Surplus Distribution on the Risk Exposure of With Profit Life Insurance Policies Including Interest Rate Guarantees

This article analyzes the numerical impact of different surplus distribution mechanisms on the risk exposure of a life insurance company selling with profit life insurance policies with a cliquet‐style interest rate guarantee. Three representative companies are considered, each using a different type of surplus distribution: a mechanism, where the guaranteed interest rate also applies to surplus that has been credited in the past, a slightly less restrictive type in which a guaranteed rate of interest of 0 percent applies to past surplus, and a third mechanism that allows for the company to use former surplus in order to compensate for underperformance in “bad” years. Although at the outset all contracts offer the same guaranteed benefit at maturity, a distribution mechanism of the third type yields preferable results with respect to the considered risk measure. In particular, throughout the analysis, our representative company 3 faces ceteris paribus a significantly lower shortfall risk than the other two companies. Offering “strong” guarantees puts companies at a significant competitive disadvantage relative to insurers providing only the third type of surplus distribution mechanism.     

Accountants’ cognitive styles and ethical reasoning: A comparison across 15 years

Recent attention to accountants’ ethics in the news, in professional practice, and by academia leads to questions about the ethical and cognitive characterization of students selecting accounting careers. We employ the Myers/Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) for assessing cognitive styles, and the Defining Issues Test (DIT) for assessing ethical reasoning to study differences between two groups of accounting graduates and new hires entering the accounting profession across a period of 15 years. We show that the dominant cognitive make-up of accountants has not changed significantly over the study period, which is consistent with prior research. Also, we hypothesize and provide evidence that this dominant style is associated with lower levels of ethical reasoning (as measured by the DIT) than other cognitive styles. The ethical reasoning scores are lower for the 2005 sample than for the 1990 sample. This result may be attributable to age, gender, grade point average, or political orientation; however, incomplete data in our sample does not allow us to make definitive conclusions regarding these control variables. We discuss the implications of these findings for curriculum development and professional practice.     

The Investment Opportunity Set and Capitalization versus Expensing Methods of Accounting Choice

This paper examines the effects of the investment opportunity set (IOS) on management's decision to capitalize or expense significant costs in two diverse settings: (1) in accounting for exploration and development (E&D) costs by firms in the oil-and-gas industry, and (2) in accounting for research and development (R&D) costs by firms (across industries) prior to 1974. We argue that the relation between the IOS and the decision to capitalize versus to expense is based upon managerial incentives to reduce the variance of accounting earnings. High-growth firms are more likely to have more variable earnings, which therefore creates greater incentives to reduce earnings variability. Because the capitalization method generally results in a lower variance of reported earnings than does the expensing method, high-growth firms are more likely to select capitalization. Our results show that, after controlling for firm size and for the indirect effects of the IOS mediated by debt contracts, high-growth firms (firms with fewer assets-in-place) are more likely than low-growth firms to select the capitalization method of accounting for E&D and R&D expenses.
JEL classification: M41; G31     

Introducing International Accounting Standards to an emerging capital market: relative familiarity and language effect in Egypt

The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of relative familiarity and language accessibility on the International Accounting Standards (IASs) disclosures when IASs are first introduced in an emerging capital market. The study focuses on the annual reports of listed non-financial companies in Egypt when IASs were first introduced. The method used applies a disclosure index measurement to a sample of listed company annual reports and evaluates relative compliance with IASs in relation to corporate characteristics. The results show that for relatively less familiar requirements of IASs, the extent of compliance is related to the type of audit firm used and to the presence of a specific statement of compliance with IASs. A lower degree of compliance with less familiar IASs disclosure is observed consistently across a range of company characteristics. Consideration of agency theory and capital need theory would lead to prior expectation of a distinction in disclosure practices between different categories of companies. The results were, therefore, counterintuitive to expectations where the regulations were unfamiliar or not available in the native language, indicating that new variables have to be considered and additional theoretical explanations have to be found in future disclosure studies on emerging capital markets.     

终极控制股东、金字塔结构与会计稳健性

我国股权大都集中在大股东的手中,终极控制股东普遍采用金字塔股权结构的方式对底层公司实施控制并影响会计稳健性。基于Basu模型,采用2012-2017年深沪两市A股上市公司数据,对终极控制股东产权性质、金字塔股权结构对上市公司会计稳健性进行研究。结果表明：与终极控制股东为非国有的上市公司相比,终极控制股东为国有的上市公司会计稳健性更高;金字塔层级增加导致会计稳健性降低;金字塔层级的增加对于国有控股企业和非国有控股企业会计稳健性的影响存在差异,国有终极控制上市公司的会计稳健性更高。     

BANKRUPTCY DISCRIMINATION WITH REAL VARIABLES

This paper reconsiders the accepted usage of nondeflated financial ratios in statistical models to differentiate between failed and nonfailed firms. Non-deflated ratios are hypothesized to inadequately reflect inter-temporal macroeconomic fluctuations that affect the ability of firm's to survive. Using a sample of 124 oil and gas companies between the period 1982–1988, the going concern assumption is evaluated with statistical logit models using either nondeflated or deflated financial ratios. Deflated company ratios are created by transforming data with price indices or by creating market value ratios. Empirical results suggest that a superior bankruptcy early warning model is developed for the oil and gas industry by creating real financial and reserve ratios and by introducing external factors, such as oil prices, interest rates and accounting method, as independent predictors. Overall classification accuracy is approximately 95 percent.     

Evaluating the Nordea experiment: Evidence from market and accounting data

This paper discusses results and difficulties of comparing banks’ performance based on publicly available data for the case of Nordea, a pan-Nordic bank created through mergers of important national banks. The objective is to determine whether Nordea’s unique strategy of functional integration across four countries can be advantageous. For stock-market data, however, Nordea does not have stable betas on risk factors, and thus the comparables method must be used with great care. The Nordea holding company performed about as well as the comparables, both in terms of stock-market and accounting data. Nordea banks in individual countries outperformed comparable holding companies; by arithmetic, Nordea non-bank operations are not as profitable as its bank operations. In event studies, the data lend only the weakest support to the hypothesis that the market viewed Nordea’s acquisitions as adding value.     

Accounting-policy choice and firm characteristics in the Asia Pacific region: An international empirical test of Costly Contracting Theory

This study provides evidence on the cross-sectional relationship between firm-specific variables and management's choice of accounting policies by examining four key accounting-policy disclosures in the 2000/2001 annual reports of 442 listed companies in the Asia Pacific region. The dependent variable is the composite measure for the income increasing (decreasing) accounting-policy choice tendency.The results show that firm-specific variables linked to Costly Contracting Theory partially explain management's choice of accounting policies. Companies that pursue income-increasing accounting techniques are characterized by lower financial leverage, lower level of ownership concentration, and higher investment opportunity sets. This finding holds true when country and industry control variables are not considered. When the control variables are included, the CCT variables are less a factor and instead country of reporting provides the strongest explanation for company managers' choice of accounting policies. Indonesian companies utilize the most income-decreasing accounting technique.     

Gender differences in accounting education: an undergraduate exploration

There is increasing evidence that females are outperforming males in secondary education across a range of subjects. The data in higher education, however, is not so clear-cut. Several studies have been undertaken examining the impact of gender on undergraduate accounting performance, ranging from early year performance to that of later years, with conflicting results. Some of the literature suggests that gender differences are dependent on the type of assessment utilized, reporting that females tend to perform better than males in coursework assessments with the position being reversed for examinations. This paper examines gender differences across several performance measures both prior to and post entry into an Accounting and Finance degree. Data was collected from the population of honours graduates of 1998, 1999 and 2000 (n?=?132) on a thick sandwich Accounting and Finance degree at the Robert Gordon University in Scotland. All the data was extracted from student files to develop a multitude of independent performance related variables, categorized into: point of university entry data, early university performance data and final honours year performance data (examined on an individual module basis and also a global coursework and examination performance basis). Statistical differences were examined using a two independent sample technique, whereby the population was categorized by gender into male and female, with either a t-test or Mann–Whitney test being utilized dependent on the distribution of the independent variable. Only two gender differences were found: females outperformed their male counterparts in the first year accounting module and also in the auditing module, which was undertaken via distance learning during the third year of the programme. No gender differences were found in any of the final year modules, and this was also evident in the coursework and examination performance analysis. Single sex focus groups were set up to explore why gender differences were apparent in the auditing module.     

Information Provided by Accrual and Cash-Flow Measures of Operating Activities

This article examines accrual and cash-flow measures useful for observing companies' financing, investing and operating activities. It addresses the information provided jointly by income and operating cash flow, and reveals that information provided by these accounting measures is dependent on their relative magnitudes. A consistent pattern of income in excess of operating cash flow, with both measures appropriately adjusted and scaled, indicates superior company growth. Income and cash-flow patterns are associated significantly with various company financing, investing and operating attributes. Empirical tests confirm that both income and operating cash flow are important for observing company performance and prospects when considered jointly and when interpreted with respect to accounting measurement theory. At least for many companies, the results do not support the conventional wisdoms that accounting measures of income and operating cash flow converge over long periods of time and that earnings provide a reliable basis for cash-flow prediction.     

A Test of the Reliability of Current Cost Disclosures

Using data from corporate acquisitions recorded under the purchase method, this research tests the reliability (representational faithfulness) of current cost disclosures. The fair value of property, plant, and equipment recorded by the acquiring company following the acquisition is found to be significantly related to the current cost disclosures made by the acquired company prior to the acquisition. When the data are segmented according to reporting regime, the significant relationship pertains to the SFAS 33 disclosures but not to ASR 190 disclosures of current cost. The study also finds that the results pertain primarily to current cost disclosures made shortly before the acquisition date. Overall, the results support current initiatives for increased departure from historical-cost approaches to accounting, especially if these measures are made along the lines of SFAS 33 techniques rather than ASR 190 techniques.     

Measuring the Degree of International Harmony in Selected Accounting Measurement Practices

This research assesses empirically the extent to which selected accounting measurement practices of companies from France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US are harmonised in the context of major international efforts to enhance the comparability of company financial statements. The findings suggest that significant differences continue in accounting measurement practices between companies originating in each of these countries. The results of the study have important implications for international standard-setters, investors, creditors and those interested in international accounting.